Luke
by blurry-phan
Summary: A Percabeth oneshot. Percy and Annabeth journey back to Camp Half Blood years after a devastating monster attack.


_Luke_  
The trip to New York didn't even have any hype. It was more, "Pack your bags, Percy, we're going to New York." That crazy wise girl. What was she thinking, going to New York with the baby on the way? This ran through my mind even as we approached the airport. The gateways were flooded with waves of people; strangers, to be exact. It made me yearn to be back at Camp Half-Blood, where every face felt familiar. I missed the old days, not what the camp had turned into these past 3 years. Chiron tried to convince me that the camp had changed for the better, but I knew this wasn't true. Not even close. It had changed me also, seeing my second home as an adolescent turned into this penal colony of a camp. It had changed everyone. And every one of us could feel it.  
I had overslept, which was something Annabeth usually planned for when scheduling our departures. But with the baby on the way, she was always on edge and forgetting things. I figured part of the reason was she never actually had a real mother figure to help her through these situations, since Athena was always up there busy doing godly stuff. Mom tried to come as often as she could, but when Paul had lost his job as a teacher, it was crucial for her to spend every hour working to keep her shop open. And blue food was not exactly what everyone liked. We did our best to help each other, we did. But with both of us struggling, it wasn't always easy.  
We boarded the plane in the nick of time, heading to our seat in the economy class. I remembered the first time I had ever been on an airplane, after one of my first quests. A huge risk, but Zeus didn't dare bother me any longer. He hardly had the power to. None of the gods really did. Greek mythology was losing its root in the western world, and the gods were slowly fading away. It struck me, all of a sudden, how ignorant mortals were. It struck me how they had never questioned a thing, never thought they saw anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't even that. It was the fact that they didn't even want to. The influence of the gods was almost everywhere, and they couldn't even be bothered to notice it. The ride was hardly turbulent. The old god's power really was dying off.  
As we landed, Annabeth seemed a little queasy.  
"Are you okay?" I said.  
"Yeah. Don't worry about me, Percy." she said, staring at me with those big gray eyes. I worried about her all the time, obviously. It wasn't something I could help, really. But I knew I shouldn't. Grover always said that Annabeth wore the pants of our relationship. I was sure she probably worried about me more.  
She grabbed my wrist and ran, leaving me struggling to catch up with her stride while lugging around our two suitcases. Even nine months pregnant, she always managed to keep me on my feet.  
I hailed a taxi, although I wasn't sure where she was taking me. Annabeth shook her head and started walking away. I waved at the disgruntled-looking taxi driver and sped up to catch up with her.  
"Annabeth, will you at least tell me where we're going?" I said, still catching my breath.  
"You'll see." she replied, as she poked me on the chest.  
I was surprised she still knew her way around New York, as I had certainly forgotten how to maneuver the city's identical looking streets. It had been three years since we had been back. We weren't even supposed to be here, in fact. No demigods were. It had been three years since all hell had broken loose. Everything had been going better than ever. Annabeth and I were on our way to Paris after our wedding.  
Two weeks after we arrived on our honeymoon came the worst outbreak of monsters in Greek history. It was almost like every single monster in Tartarus had risen up and come all at once. And somehow, they managed to get inside the camp. Chiron spent months after the rampage trying to work out what had gone wrong, but there always comes a time to stop dwelling on the past, and Chiron had reached his limit. He never returned back to his normal self after, however. No matter how much we hoped he would. He couldn't help but feel responsible for the deaths of all those demigods.  
The few that survived were taken to a remote camp in Massachusetts. I've only ever visited that camp once. It's not even the darkness of the whole place. It's the look in their eyes, especially the younger ones. They all knew people that had been torn from existence in a matter of seconds. It's not something you can really get over. They barely have any resources, since the gods lost a lot on that day too. That's what most people call it now; That Day.  
As Annabeth led me from the busy streets to the gentle countryside, I soon realized where we were going. The strawberry fields that used to surround the camp were no longer there. Nothing was. We stared solemnly at the empty hills, remembering what was once a thriving camp. Our thriving camp.  
A part of me died when Camp Half-Blood did. But my pain was nothing compared to Annabeth's. Camp Half-Blood had been the only real home she had ever known for most of her childhood. And it had all been ripped from her in one day.  
I wished I had known what she was thinking, looking at those hills. Maybe I could have changed something. Maybe I could have done something different so we wouldn't be where we are now.  
The next series of events were all a blur. I don't remember how much time passed, but suddenly, Annabeth whispered in my ear, "Percy."  
I looked at her and she looked back, and I knew. I picked her up and ran as fast as I could as she directed me to the nearest hospital. Rushing inside, the nurses did the rest of the work for me, but I held her hand the whole way through.  
Having a baby looks painful. That's probably all I could say about that.  
In the end, we received the news that Annabeth Jackson had given birth to a healthy baby boy. Annabeth gave me a small smile, and I grinned in return.  
"Percy, look at me." she said.  
"I am." I said, but I couldn't have been more incorrect. In my eyes, I was seeing my happy wife who had just given birth to a healthy baby boy that we would spend the rest of our lives together with happily ever after. I didn't see the pain that she had been hiding. But I should have.  
"No, you aren't." she said. And she was right. I wasn't. "Percy, I can't do this anymore."  
And that's when I should have known. I should have done something. But instead I stood there grinning like an idiot.  
"What do you mean?" I said.  
"You really are a seaweed brain." she said, and slowly, the corners of her mouth turned up. But then she paused. And closed her eyes. And didn't open them again.  
I have no memory of what happened next, but somehow, by myself, I chose the name Luke for our baby boy. I thought it was what Annabeth would have wanted. I still wonder where I went wrong, but there is always a time to stop dwelling on the past, and that time is now for me.


End file.
